Wednesday, April 25, 2007
No argument from me
Snapshot of a bumper sticker in the parking lot at work. Check it out, but don't feel badly if you can't handle it either.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Playhouse in Sketchup
Before we built the playhouse we first modeled it in a 3D drawing program called Sketchup. This free program has a fairly steep learning curve, but for projects like this it's absolutely invaluable to help visualize the interior and exterior of a building concept. Here's a snapshot from Sketchup of the playhouse schematic. (We didn't actually build it quite this way; I only used four of the five 12' roof beams and haven't added the porch yet. But otherwise this is an accurate model.)
I can send you the original Sketchup file if you like; just drop me an email.
I can send you the original Sketchup file if you like; just drop me an email.
The new kitten
Here's Colby the kitten from back in early February. Tanya picked him up at the local Humane Society since he was the bestest kitty in the place. Colby was rescued from the Sonoma Landfill where he was living with his family until 8 weeks old. He's a great kitty, but he roughs up our five year old boy cat Hirame quite a bit. Our 15 year old girl cat Jadzia won't have anything to do with him.
Cam's island cake
Cameron's last Cub Scout Blue & Gold dinner with Pack 186 was in March. He competed in the cake contest in the "tropical island" category. Here's Cam decorating his island; note the blue jello ocean and candy cigarette lean-to. The latter are hard to find these days, being politically incorrect, but Novato recently got a real candy store that carries candy cigarettes and other items I haven't seen since I was ten.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Playhouse
Tanya had an idea about a month ago that we build a playhouse for the kids on an otherwise hard to use part of our yard. Here you see the framing, which has since been covered with plywood & painted "watertank green." Many thanks to David and Jason for their help with the framing and sheathing.
Big trees, hale hikers
I came across this photo of three hikers in Muir Woods from August 2006. That guy in the middle -- where can I get a shirt like that?
And here's Cait, another cute chickie photographed the same day.
And here's Cait, another cute chickie photographed the same day.
Hammer and spade
About 14 months ago our hot water supply line from the garage to the house started leaking. I discovered this in the middle of December when I noticed moss growing on the cedar shingle siding of our house above two foundation vents. It was a fast leak, about three gallons an hour, and it's a testament to our foundation drainage that the whole crawlspace wasn't flooded over the three months or so that this leak was going.
We hired a plumber to repair the leak and replace the old iron supply pipes with copper. (I was more than happy to pay a professional to do this, since it involved torch work under the house, in an 18 inch crawlspace, in what must've been six inches of sticky mud.) The plumber rented an electric jackhammer to tear up the garage floor where the pipes passed down through the slab, then he used the hammer and a clay spade
to dig up the trench in the clay between the buildings.
This latter innovation is something I hadn't seen before. It took the plumber maybe 10 minutes to dig a trench that would've taken me two hours with a pick and shovel. Since then we've rented a Hilti 25lb. hammer several times to break up our hardpan clay in preparation for patio building, garden bed amendment, and post hole digging. It turns two-weekend jobs into one-morning jobs all by itself, and that's worth the $70 rental.
In the picture below you see a model holding the hammer we use for yard work. This picture illustrates a nice fiction that a 25lb. hammer can be used to break up a large slab, when in fact holding the hammer the way illustrated will wreck nothing but your lower back. When I use this hammer for clay work I hold it by the loop handle at the top with two hands and let it work itself in with its own weight. When we do concrete demolition I usually rent a 60lb. Bosch hammer and a chisel point.
We hired a plumber to repair the leak and replace the old iron supply pipes with copper. (I was more than happy to pay a professional to do this, since it involved torch work under the house, in an 18 inch crawlspace, in what must've been six inches of sticky mud.) The plumber rented an electric jackhammer to tear up the garage floor where the pipes passed down through the slab, then he used the hammer and a clay spade
to dig up the trench in the clay between the buildings.This latter innovation is something I hadn't seen before. It took the plumber maybe 10 minutes to dig a trench that would've taken me two hours with a pick and shovel. Since then we've rented a Hilti 25lb. hammer several times to break up our hardpan clay in preparation for patio building, garden bed amendment, and post hole digging. It turns two-weekend jobs into one-morning jobs all by itself, and that's worth the $70 rental.
In the picture below you see a model holding the hammer we use for yard work. This picture illustrates a nice fiction that a 25lb. hammer can be used to break up a large slab, when in fact holding the hammer the way illustrated will wreck nothing but your lower back. When I use this hammer for clay work I hold it by the loop handle at the top with two hands and let it work itself in with its own weight. When we do concrete demolition I usually rent a 60lb. Bosch hammer and a chisel point.
Cam parallel parks
This spring break we stayed at the Manchester KOA, which featured pedal cars for those with more energy than sense (they were rather heavy). Here's Cam practicing his parallel parking skillz.
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